Page 80 of The Trouble with Flings

“The Fountain of Youth? I wish. Why do you ask?”

“Have you looked in the mirror lately?” She waves her hand at me. “You look fantastic. And it’s not just your skin. There’s a new light in your eyes that’s still there even at the end of our most exhausting days.”

“I don’t feel that way, but thank you.” As I say it, it dawns on me that it’s probably the pregnancy hormones. At least they’re doing something other than making me overly emotional and horny. But it’s also an uncomfortable reminder that I need to break my pregnancy news to everyone before I go from looking a little chubbier than usual to Holy shit, are you pregnant?

Interestingly, the thought doesn’t send me into a spiral the way it did two weeks ago.

Feeling the need to distance the conversation from the truth, I say, “I’ve been going to bed earlier. Maybe it’s that.”

“Sure it is.” Clare grins, as if we share a secret. “For the record, if it happens to be a new man lighting you up, I fully support that.”

My pulse quickens, and I have the unfamiliar urge not to deny the existence of that man. While I’m not ready to spill all of my secrets, I say, “There is someone in my life, but he’s not exactly new. He’s been tapping at my window for months.”

“Really?” she asks excitedly, stepping closer to my desk. “Please let me live vicariously through you. Who is this mystery man? And is he tapping more than just your window?”

My cell phone rings, giving me the perfect excuse not to share details. “Saved by the bell,” I say, reaching for my phone.

“Tell whoever it is their timing stinks,” Clare says on her way out, and closes the door behind her.

Jayla’s name appears on the screen.

“Hey, Jay. Please say you’re calling with good news, like pastries are now calorie free or sunshine has the ability to take the rebellion out of teens, and it’s going to be seventy-five and sunny until the end of the school year.”

“You sound like you need to go back to Costa Rica. Stressful day?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the kind that makes me wonder why I didn’t become something less stressful, like a Green Beret or a fire jumper.”

She laughs, and I lean back in my chair, some of the tension in my shoulders easing. Jayla has always had that effect on me. She’s warm and tough, like our mother, as if their strength is load-bearing, but lives beneath a cushion of love. I wonder if that comes with motherhood. Suddenly I feel a new kind of kinship with my sister.

One I’m not ready to share yet.

“How are the kids?” I ask.

“Kyleigh went from three to seventeen overnight and advised me this morning that she no longer needs me to brush her hair, because she wants deadlocks.”

“Deadlocks? That’s so stinking cute. Where did she see dreads?”

“I was ordering magnesium spray from this girl I follow on social media, and she has long blond dreads. Now Kyleigh wants hair just like hers.”

“That’s awesome. I love that Ky wants to do her own thing, don’t you?”

“Yes, totally. But she wants it now. She went to preschool today with twelve of the thinnest braids you’ve ever seen in her hair. Then there’s Thane, who’s every bit Rush’s kid. He’s so damn cocky.”

“Can a five-year-old be cocky?” Thane is adorable, and he is very confident for a little guy, which I think is a good thing, and I know Jayla does, too.

“Have you met my son? In class yesterday he drew a picture of what he wants to be when he grows up.”

“Did he draw a skier holding a gold medal?”

“No. He wants to be a race-car driver,” she says, and I can hear her smiling. “And yes, he drew himself holding a massive gold medal, but he also drew Rush standing next to the car. When I asked him why his daddy was there, he said Rush is his pit crew and keeps Thane and his car safe.”

“If that’s not a vote for Father of the Year, I don’t know what is,” I say.

Jayla and her kids are lucky. Rush has always put their family above all else. My thoughts tiptoe back to the loose banister and dim lightbulb and Fitz kneeling before me with his hands on my belly. We’re lucky, too. The urge to tell my sister about him and the baby is sudden and sharp, but so is the anxiety, so I force myself to tamp it down.

“It really is,” Jayla says.

She has been in love with Rush since they were teenagers, when they met at ski camp and became instant best friends. Rush was a big-time player, and Jayla knew about all of his trysts. They were that close, sharing everything except their true feelings for each other. But their friendship never faltered. Not through the sowing of their wild oats, or the trials and tribulations that went along with being an Olympic athlete. We were all happy when they finally got their heads out of their butts and saw what was right in front of them.